Class Year
2017
Document Type
Blog Post
Publication Date
11-3-2015
Department 1
Civil War Institute
Abstract
This post is the second in a three-part series on women soldiers in the Civil War and during modern reenactments. Also check out the introduction of this series.
I was thirteen years old when I joined the 5th Kentucky Orphan Brigade, a Confederate reenactment group based out of south-central Kentucky. At fourteen, I “saw the elephant”—a Civil War term for seeing battle—for the first time as a soldier. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done, but seven years later I credit that decision to go through with it as bringing me to where I am now, writing for the Compiler here at Gettysburg College. In those seven years, however, I have faced my fair share of scrutiny for portraying a soldier rather than a civilian. I didn’t become aware of the scrutiny until more recently, however, as I became more conscious both of historical and modern views about women portraying soldiers at Civil War reenactments [excerpt].
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Elizabeth A., "A Woman in Soldier’s Dress: Then and Now" (2015). The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History. 114.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/compiler/114
Included in
Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons, Women's History Commons
Comments
This blog post originally appeared in The Gettysburg Compiler and was created by students at Gettysburg College.